The 2024 general election may well prove the role of money in American politics has never been larger or less transparent.
In November’s election, an unprecedented amount of money will come from partisan nonprofit groups to influence voters on everything from the race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to various statewide ballot initiatives.
Illustration by The Epoch Times,, Shutterstock
At the end of 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024, a handful of groups announced plans to spend nearly $1 billion on the presidential race.
An Epoch Times analysis shows most of the spending will go toward Biden and his Democratic Party. Nine groups—American Bridge 21st Century, Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, Climate Power, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, Republican Voters Against Trump, Service Employees International Union, Unite the Country, and VoteVets—have said they will spend nearly $800 million on this cause.
A much smaller amount, about $160 million, is committed to Trump and the Republicans. Turning Point and Faith & Freedom Coalition said they will spend that amount on the 2024 election. Another key group, Americans For Prosperity, has already launched an “eight-figure” campaign to dump Biden but isn’t saying how much it will actually spend.
Most political groups are composed of a mix of 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofits and political action committees registered with the Federal Election Commission. FEC records for these political organizations show that the 501s are usually multimillion-dollar donors to their PACs.
Nonprofits and PACs follow very different rules.
Under federal law, FEC-registered committees must report how much they are taking in, who is giving it to them, and how they are spending it. Reporting dates vary, but PACs must disclose regularly.
The law doesn’t call for 501s — formally recognized as charitable and social welfare organizations by the IRS — to reveal who is giving them money or how much they are giving. Furthermore, the 501s don’t have to disclose how much money they raised or spent until the end of the year or their fiscal year.
This often means Americans don’t know how much 501s are spending on elections until years after the event is over. The 2024 reports don’t need to be filed until the end of 2025.
As the year presses on, more of these so-called dark money organizations, and many others, will certainly plunk down princely sums on the hotly contested races for control of Congress, too.
—Austin Alonzo
REPUBLICANS HOLD ON TO MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES
Next Monday, the House will finally send to the Senate the impeachment articles of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas instead of sending them on April 10, as initially scheduled.
Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and John Kennedy (R-La.) announced the delay during a press conference.
The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) confirmed the news.
“To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week. There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial,” Taylor Haulsee, a spokesperson for Johnson, told CNN in a statement.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) called for a delay.
“If we want to have the opportunity in the Senate to have a more fulsome discussion about this when the articles come over, there are times when that could probably happen better than having them come over tomorrow night and having to deal with it Thursday afternoon (April 11),” he said.
“It’s the speaker’s call, but clearly our members want to have the opportunity not only to debate, but to have some votes on issues they want to raise, in some cases those will be points of order,” added Thune.
The House impeached Mayorkas in February over what Republicans said was his failure to enforce immigration laws amid the crisis at the southern border.
On April 16, all 100 senators, who serve as jurors during impeachment trials, are expected to be sworn in. Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will preside.
However, the swearing-in, which is mandatory, could happen as soon as the upper congressional chamber receives the impeachment articles.
A two-thirds majority is required to convict and therefore remove from office.
However, the Senate will likely not continue the trial as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected to bring up a motion to table it, thereby ending it. Schumer hinted he will do so.
“We’re going to move forward and resolve this as quickly as possible,” he told reporters. The swearing-in is a must and therefore the earliest a trial can end is afterward.
A simple majority is required to end the trial. Given the Democrats control the Senate, it is likely this motion will pass and therefore it would have been the first time the Senate has not held a full impeachment trial. But the GOP is expected to bring up a point of order to proceed with the trial. However, that motion will likely fail.
Democrats have decried the impeachment as baseless.
—Jackson Richman
BOOKMARKS
The Arizona Supreme Court reinstated a near-ban on abortion that was enacted in 1864, reports The Epoch Times’ Samantha Flom. The only exception is if the mother’s life is in danger. Arizona law was 15 weeks, but a referendum in November would make abortion a state constitutional right until the baby can survive outside the womb.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super political action committee that supports GOP candidates for the upper congressional chamber, raised $24.4 million between January and March of this year, reports The Epoch Times’ Austin Alonzo. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, the first quarter amount would nearly match the about $37.1 million the super PAC collected in 2023.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on April 8 that no date has been set for the Israel Defense Forces to invade the southern Gazan city of Rafah, reports Axios’ Barak Ravid. Hamas terrorists have a stronghold in the city as the group has suffered losses in other parts of Gaza since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Gallant’s comment contradicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the same day that a date has been set for the invasion. He did not say what date that will be.
The United States has sent Ukraine Iranian-made weapons, reports The Washington Post’s Alex Horton. This comes as Congress is in limbo on a national security bill that would send assistance to Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
Anti-Israel protesters were arrested for causing a disturbance inside the Dirksen Senate Office building, reports The Washington Examiner’s Cami Mondeaux. The protests were in response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state—the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
